Has Cohesion Policy Failed Italy or has Italy Failed Cohesion Policy?

From the beginning of cohesion policy in 1989 Italy has been a major beneficiary. The country started with eight Objective 1 out of its twenty regions while at the same time Spain had thirteen out of its seventeen regions in the least developed category, At the same time, all of Ireland was covered by Objective 1 as was the case with Greece and Portugal. After twenty-five years and successive cycles of substantial cohesion policy allocations—Italy is currently the second major beneficiary of the policy while during the previous cycle it was third on the list of major beneficiaries from the cohesion policy budget—it still has five of the original eight regions covered by the convergence objective. In contrast, Ireland has completely moved out of the less developed category; Spain has only one region left in this category, and even in Greece—despite its economic problems—has less than half of the underdeveloped regions it had in 1989. What explains this less than brilliant track record that has been displayed by the socioeconomic performance of Italy’s less developed regions? Can the reason be found in the structural components or objectives and the management style of the cohesion policy that just do not fit the unique Italian case or should we look for the explanation in the Italian approach to how the policy has been implemented at both the national and regional levels? We will attempt to provide the answers to these questions from drawing on the experience of the two authors in their capacity as evaluators of the policy during the last three cycles and their direct experience in managing the policy in Sicily (Leonardi) and daily experience in coordinating the work of the regional management authorities at the national and European levels (Ciaffi). In addition, the authors will draw upon their knowledge of the cohesion policy as reflected in their published work and in their interactions with other regional authorities in the Committee of Regions.